Nikon D5100 Indoor Crops

16 MegapixelsSingle Lens ReflexHigh ISO: ISO 6400 or more is available at full-resolution.Continuous DriveFull 1080p HD Video: 1920 x 1080 resolution or more.Manual Controls: Both fully-manual (M) and semi-automatic modes (T and V).Custom White-Balance: Specifies exactly what should be white to the camera.Action Photography: Shutter speeds of 1/1500 or more.Night Photography: Reaches shutter-speeds longer than 4 seconds.Hotshoe: Allows external flash units to be attached.Spot MeteringAccepts Secure Digital Extended Capacity (SDXC), SDHC and SD memory.Neocamera detailed reviewDiscontinued: No longer produced by the manufacturer. May still be in stock or found used.

Indoor Crops

The Nikon D5100 is compared to the Pentax K-5Pentax K-5 which shares the same 16 megapixels sensor. All images below are 100% unmodified crops from their respective cameras. ISO, aperture and white-balance were set on the camera, the remaining settings were left on automatic. The D3100 had the Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G VRNikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6G VR lens while the K-5 had the Pentax DA* 55mm F/1.4. Unfortunately we only had this lens for the D5100. Despite custom white-balance registering perfect white on a target white-balance card, colors still look off in certain areas. This indicates an uneven color response from the D5100.

Despite noise-reduction being turned off for both cameras, the D5100 clearly applies an increasing amount at each ISO step. This explains why things get gradually softer and does a decent job at hiding image noise. ISO 3200 is where noise becomes disruptive. By 6400, possible print sizes are limited but even the expanded ISO sensitivities can be used for emergencies.

Nikon D5100

Pentax K-5

ISO 100

ISO 100

ISO 200

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 6400

ISO 12800

ISO 12800

ISO 25600

ISO 25600

ISO 51200

ISO 51200

ISO 102400

The performance is neck-and-neck between these two cameras, despite the D5100 being much cheaper than the K-5. While the K-5 officially has an extra ISO stop, it is there mostly for bragging rights. The same is true of the two extra NightVision stops of the D5100.